Understanding Who The Captain Is- When playing poker, players tend to fall into familiar roles at the table; the loose donkey, the uber rock, and so on. Eventually, however, one player (or sometimes two) will take the reins as the "table captain" of your particular table. This player will be the focal point of the table, whether it's because of his mammoth chip stack, his hyper aggressive play, or even his celebrity status in the poker world; whatever the case, the action and tempo of the table will be determined by that player more than any other factor you'll see at the table, especially at cash games or deeper stacked tourneys. If Tony G is at your table as captain, running over people with all sorts of wild hands and 3/4 betting liberally, you'll see play loosen up quickly and starting hand ranges widen to take advantage of the G's super wide range. Be sure to quickly identify at any new table who the head honcho is, or if you're inheriting the role yourself, as this is vital information for reacting to table shifts as you play at any table.
Playing The Captain- To play against the captain can be a tricky task, depending on who the captain is and where he's positioned against you on the table. If the captain is to your left, and constantly has position on you, you're at the mercy of his relentless assault of bets and raises in position, with the added drawback of his captaincy giving him a more liberal use of sophisticated plays or sheer power moves, depending on the caliber of player you're up against. Be aware of the tempo of the table when playing against the captain; if he's won 6 out of the past 7 pots with aggressive plays, attempting to steal the blinds with J4o from the button may be a terrible idea if captain happens to be in the big blind, as he's incredibly likely to come over the top of you light. For the most part, play the captain like you would any respected player with a pile of chips; wait for solid spots to counter-attack them, and keep them at bay with well timed aggression of your own.
Captain Shifting- The table captain will generally not stay the same for the duration of your stay at any given table. They may quit the game, lose a number of pots, or lose a single pot that severely cripples their stack. Keep a watchful eye out for captains losing their power and other players gaining ground. When players tend to fall out of the captain's role, they usually go through a small period of passive, tight play to protect themselves against further damage. This is a perfect time to assail them with bets and raises that are lighter than usual; with the confidence they had in their play now gone, they're more likely to pack up and fold than they were when they were on their rush. Sometimes, there may not even be a captain at all at the table; beginning of tournaments, turbo tournaments, and tight cash games are good examples of tables where no clear "captain" is present. Again, awareness of these things is the difference between bluffing the former captain and dumping your chips to the current one.
Chris is a writer for various websites, and an avid poker player that enjoys using instant poker money to help combat the bullies and captains at the tables
